Chelsea have had a swap deal rejected for West Ham and Bayern Munich target and Inter Milan midfielder Marcelo Brozovic in exchange for John-Obi Mikel, according to Gazzetta Dello Sport.
Frank De Boer rejecting the proposal from Chelsea is a boost to Bayern Munich and West Ham as both clubs have looked into signing the Croatian.
The Hammers have struggled with injuries of late and Slaven Bilic has confirmed the club are looking to bring in one more midfielder, especially if they progress to the Europa League group stages.
23-year-old Brozovic joined Inter Milan on an 18-month loan from Dinamo Zagreb in January 2015 for a fee of £2.5m and has been very impressive, scoring eight goals and recording six assists in 51 appearances for the club before completing a £4.25m move on July 1st 2016.
With I Nerazzurri closing in on Sporting CP’s Joao Mario, De Boer could be looking to sell on the 23-year-old in order to comply with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play.
Inter Milan have issued a statement, using Chelsea as the example as they will only take cash for Brozovic rather than a swap deal meaning that Bayern, West Ham and Chelsea will have to pay at least £17million for his services.
With Joao Mario yet to be in the Inter Milan, he is in line to start in Inter’s season opener against Chievo on Sunday. But the move for the Euro 2016 winner looks to be imminent as he wasn’t in the squad for Sporting’s 1-0 win over Ferreira.
Capped 20 times by Croatia, scoring on four occasions, Brozovic has been linked with some of the Premier League’s biggest clubs and now West Ham have looking into signing him.
Slaven Bilic knows the player very well due to his time as Croatia’s national team manager and believes Brozovic could add something to the squad.
